After taking orders from Officers Chad Crogan and Roger Downing all week, David Youngerman and the other 24 cadets at the department’s Youth Police Academy got their revenge on the two officers.

Crogan and Downing donned protective suits and attacked the 25 cadets. The aspiring police officers used the various defense tactics they learned throughout the weeklong junior police academy to subdue their attackers.

"I got to use my body and get back against the officers," said Youngerman, who aspires to be a SWAT team member. "This is going to help me out."

Like a real police academy, Crogan and Downing run the camp like drill instructors and begin each day with physical training, including pushups, situps and running.

Practicing their self-defense techniques was one of the skills the cadets learned this week, as they received a crash course in what it takes to be a police officer. Crogan and Downing taught the students how to use a radar gun, search for evidence at a crime scene and walk in formation.

The cadets, who are in grades six through eight, got a visit from the Lifeflight helicopter and the Middlesex County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit who demonstrated the dog’s speed and power by having one of the members of the unit don a protective suit and play the role of a suspect attempting to elude police.

"I thought it was really cool because they can jump very high," said Maggie Appel, 12. "I thought it was very interesting."

Crogan, the department’s school resource officer, and Det. Craig Perry brought the program to Hudson eight years ago and since then it has continued to grow in popularity. The department added two one-week sessions to meet the growing demand.

Various activities have been added to the program, such as an impaired driving exercise where cadets use fatal vision goggles while driving a golf cart with one of the officers to simulate the dangers of drunk driving.

While the cadets said they enjoy learning from the officers, Crogan said overseeing the program is his favorite part of the job.

"I love the whole thing," said Crogan. "I like showing the kids what it’s like to be a police officer."

(Jeff Malachowski can be reached at 508-490-7466 or jmalachowski@wickedlocal.com. Follow Hudson news on Twitter at www.twitter.com/JeffMalachowski.)